Some of the canoes which Captain Mundy (1) met with in the Gulf of Boni he describes as of very long shape, propelled by fifteen paddles, and ornamented both at prow and stern with carved wood.

The small sailing-boats he describes as fitted with wooden outriggers, which, weighted with men, enabled them to carry a sail of enormous size. On the inland rivers, some of the canoes are forty or fifty feet long, by only two and a half wide, and covered with a small kajang or mat. Others are so small as scarcely to float a child of five years of age-in fact, but a hollowed log. But it appears that the native mothers do not fear to trust their children upon them, who soon acquire the art of swimming, and, in the course of time, with remarkable dexterity. (2)

BOATS OF BRUNI.

One of the greatest novelties at Bruni is the floatingbazaar. There being no shops in the city, the market is held every day in covered canoes. These are moored in tiers, forming lanes on the river, up which the purchasers ply in paddling canoes, look on, and make their purchases.

The trading boats come in every morning, at sunrise, from all parts of the river, laden with fresh fruit, and every other commodity produced in the vicinity. (3).

The floating market is thus alluded to by Mr. Spencer St. John, in his interesting work on Borneo :—

'Several hundred canoes, each containing one or two women, covered over with mat hats a yard in diameter, floated up and down about the town, pulling through the water lanes, and resting for a while in the slack at the back of the houses.'

PROAS (OR PRAHUS) OF BORNEO.

The proas-praus or prahus (4)-of Borneo are swift-sailing vessels, though made of the trunk of a tree, hollowed, and

(1) Borneo and Celebes,' by Captain Mundy, R.N. (1848).

(2) Life in the Forests of the Far East,' by Spencer St. John, F.R.G.S., &c. (1862).

(3) Borneo and the Indian Archipelago,' by F. S. Marryat (1848).

(*) Different voyagers and authors appear to spell this word in different ways, but 'proa' seems to be the most general.

sharpened at both ends; they have neither keel nor rudder, but are steered over the quarter with a very long paddle, thirty feet in length, and about twelve or fourteen inches wide in the blade. The thwarts or seats are placed across the boat, above the gunwale. As a precaution against the danger of capsizing under sail, these boats are fitted with outlagers-a framework consisting of two long poles, which are run out on each side, one across the fore part, and one across the aft part of the proa, the outer ends of the poles being run into, or lashed to, a large bamboo. When the wind is heavy, part of the crew run out on the windward outlager, to keep the boat upright. These proas are fitted and sailed with a large latine. shaped sail, made of matting. (1)

BAJU AND BALIGNINI PIRATE PRAHUS.

The Balignini, which are of the Bajow or sea-gipsy tribe, have large prahus, with crews of seventy or eighty men, who sometimes row double-banked; and to each prahu a long and fleet small boat is attached, which will hold from ten to fifteen

men.

They seldom carry large guns, like the Illanans, but lelahs (small brass guns); also swords, spears, stones, and other instruments of attack.

The Balignini and Baju pirates were formerly the terror of the Indian Isles. Mengkabong is the head-quarters of these lawless people.

The Baju prahus are rigged with tripod-masts, which consist of three tall bamboos, the two foremost being fitted on a crossbeam, the other loose; so that, when a heavy squall threatens, the masts can be immediately struck. (2)

The arrangement of the tripod-mast fitted to the Tartar galley (and described at page 255) is somewhat different to that of the Baju boats, the fore-leg of the mast being the one by which the tripod of the Tartar galley can be struck; whereas the aft-leg in the Baju prahu is the loose one.

(') 'Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo,' by Captain Daniel Beeckman, A.D. 1718.

(2) Spencer St. John's Borneo.'

CANOE OF THE SOOLOO ISLANDS.

The canoes of the Sooloo (or Sulu) Archipelago are curiously and ingeniously contrived. They differ from those of the other islands, not only in shape, but also in the outrigger. A Sulu canoe is made of a single log of wood or a tree, but it is seldom large enough to carry more than two persons at a time. The outrigger is a double one, i.e. it extends on both sides of the canoe, so as to give it extra stability. A railing is also placed above the sides of 6 the canoe, with supports, which rest upon the bearers of the outrigger.

Section of Sulu Canoe.

These canoes are propelled by means of a doubled-bladed paddle or sweep, with which they may be managed entirely Small canoes of this kind are never sailed. They are sometimes built upon and enlarged with boards or upper sides, which are secured to the trunk. (1)

by one person.

THE SULU OR ILLANAN PRAHUS.

'Woe to the craft, however fleet,

These sea-hawks in their course shall meet!

For not more sure, when owlets flee

O'er the dark crags of Pendelee,
Doth the night-falcon mark his prey,

Or pounce on it more fleet than they.'

T. MOORE.

The Sulu or Illanan prahus are the largest kind of prahus in the Indian Archipelago; they belong to the pirates of the Sulu

(') See Wilkes'' United States Exploring Expedition,' vol. v. p. 332.

Isles, who go under the name of Lanans. These prahus are from twenty to thirty tons burthen, nearly a hundred feet in length, and of considerable breadth of beam, with a sharp hollow bow; the lower part of the hull is strongly built of timber; but the bulwarks, decks, and internal fittings are chiefly of bamboo, ingeniously fastened together. The crew is generally a very numerous one, sometimes from forty to fifty. A raised platform is constructed on both sides of the prahu, for the convenience of the pirates in their lawless pursuits, and as a fighting-stage. These boats are propelled both by sails and oars; sometimes fifty oars are used at once. They draw but little water, are fast under sail, and well adapted for navigating the dangerous seas of the archipelago. They are rigged with two separate shear-masts, each consisting of two spars lashed together at the top. The heels of the foremost are set in a base, which partly revolves, and the shear-mast can be also raised and lowered at pleasure; so that, when attacking a vessel, the sail can be let down, and the shear-mast directed in such a manner as to fall on the side or bulwarks of the attacked vessel; it then forms a ladder for the pirates to climb from the prahus to the deck of the vessel. The shear-mast can also be dropped on the bank of a river, so as to form a bridge; and it may be used for scaling walls, and other marauding practices. The sails of these prahus are made of matting and bamboo canes, and are of very large size; they also generally carry a square red flag at their foremast-head, and assemble in a numerous fleet when on their piratical adventures.

The Sulu are said to be the boldest and most cold-blooded pirates in the archipelago. They infest the straits of Macassar, the sea of Celebes, and the Sulu Sea.

TARTAR GALLEY.

(See Engraving.)

The vessel used by Capt. Forrest in his voyage along the coast of New Guinea, was called a Tartar galley, but was, in fact, a Sulu bout, about ten tons burthen. This boat had a